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2018 Super Bowl Ads Offer Something for Everyone

For millions of fans Super Bowl commercials are one of the most anticipated and entertaining parts of the football championship finals, and this year's ad game has something for everyone. NBC's Jay Gray reports. (Published Monday, Feb. 5, 2018)

Regardless, it wasn’t a popular move — except with white supremacists, who quickly latched on to the brand after word of Schnatter’s rant, which they said reflected "outrage over [the NFL’s] anti-White agenda," got around.

The company’s 2017 third-quarter sales figures showed slower rates of growth than in previous years: 1.5 percent in North America, compared to a more than 5 percent increase the year before.

But, as competitors and their fans pointed out, there’s no demonstrable proof the decline in sales was directly related to players’ taking a knee during the pre-game national anthem to protest police brutality and racism.

Papa John’s announced in December that Schnatter would be stepping down at the start of 2018, and on Jan. 1, 2018, President and COO Steve Ritchie took his place. Schnatter was still going to be involved with the company and remain its chairman of the board. And he’s still all over the pizza chain’s official YouTube channel (but comments appear to be mostly disabled.)

"We have no plans to remove John from our communications," a Papa John's spokesman told Adweek. "This was the right time for Steve to step in the CEO role, who has been with Papa John’s for 21 years and started as an hourly employee. We want to focus on what we do best—our people and our pizza."

But, it’s likely you won’t see Schnatter’s face in Super Bowl commercials this year, as NBC Sports reported in early January that Papa John's had not, at that time, purchased a $2-million, 30-second ad spot.

"We currently do not have a Super Bowl spot booked or produced, but are exploring our options in and around the game," the chain's chief marketing officer Brandon Rhoten said. "I didn’t buy my Super Bowl spot last year until the Monday before the game, so you never know."

Rhoten wasn’t with Papa John’s for last year’s Super Bowl; he was with Wendy’s. And Papa John’s did not have a Super Bowl ad during the actual game last year, either.

Still, you never know.

But with no more Schnatter at the helm, and no more Peyton Manning in the game, it would make sense for the pizza chain to pivot and rebrand a little. And while they’re obviously not going to hire him for the CEO job, there’s got to be something they can do with this: